Posted on Oct 27, 2023
This largest-ever map of the human brain could change how we study it : Short Wave
90
7
1
5
5
0
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/27/ [login to see] /brain-initiative-map-alzheimers-schizophrenia
The human brain has 170 BILLION cells. And scientists have discovered more than 3,000 different brain cells types. A new, largest-of-its-kind map of these cells could help scientists understand what makes humans unique in the animal kingdom and the roles different brain cells play in disease.
Science correspondent Jon Hamilton talks to host Regina G. Barber about the findings from this new map, a product of the NIH's BRAIN initiative. Plus, what the heck splatter neurons have to do with all of this!
The human brain has 170 BILLION cells. And scientists have discovered more than 3,000 different brain cells types. A new, largest-of-its-kind map of these cells could help scientists understand what makes humans unique in the animal kingdom and the roles different brain cells play in disease.
Science correspondent Jon Hamilton talks to host Regina G. Barber about the findings from this new map, a product of the NIH's BRAIN initiative. Plus, what the heck splatter neurons have to do with all of this!
This largest-ever map of the human brain could change how we study it : Short Wave
Posted from npr.orgPosted in these groups: 
Science
Mental Health
Science Mental Health
Posted 7 mo ago
Responses: 1
2
2
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Mice, humans, and gorillas
Already, the atlas is offering a way to see how the human brain differs from animal brains.
Humans have specialized cells for processing visual information that aren't found in mice, says Dr. Trygve Bakken, an assistant investigator at the Allen Institute who worked on the atlas.
"We share kind of a basic plan with mice," he says, "but we see specializations in primates that we don't necessarily see in a mouse."
Those cells are present in chimps and gorillas, whose brains were also mapped as part of the atlas project. But in those species, scientists found subtle differences in the brain areas that humans use to process language.
"There really is a conserved set of cell types that we share with chimpanzees and gorillas," Bakken says. "But the gene expression has changed in those cells."
The changes in gene expression affect the connections between cells. That suggests humans' language abilities are the result of different wiring, not different cells. And that is a job for a whole different effort known as the Human Connectome Project, which is mapping the connections that allow individual brain cells to form vast networks."...
..."Mice, humans, and gorillas
Already, the atlas is offering a way to see how the human brain differs from animal brains.
Humans have specialized cells for processing visual information that aren't found in mice, says Dr. Trygve Bakken, an assistant investigator at the Allen Institute who worked on the atlas.
"We share kind of a basic plan with mice," he says, "but we see specializations in primates that we don't necessarily see in a mouse."
Those cells are present in chimps and gorillas, whose brains were also mapped as part of the atlas project. But in those species, scientists found subtle differences in the brain areas that humans use to process language.
"There really is a conserved set of cell types that we share with chimpanzees and gorillas," Bakken says. "But the gene expression has changed in those cells."
The changes in gene expression affect the connections between cells. That suggests humans' language abilities are the result of different wiring, not different cells. And that is a job for a whole different effort known as the Human Connectome Project, which is mapping the connections that allow individual brain cells to form vast networks."...
(2)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google